Sometimes, on note writing days, if I spend a lot of time writing something else, then I’ll choose to edit that writing and post it as my note for the day. Such is the case today—especially since I’m going to spend the rest of the day in the river and in my car. This writing stemmed from an e-mail that I just wrote to a friend, and I hope that, somehow, it will cause you, dear reader, to chuckle…if for no other reason that I take Vera Bradley shopping so seriously!
I have a confession to make. I didn't originally buy you Indigo Pop. It was the pattern that I was first drawn to when shopping for you. But the more I stood in the store and looked at patterns, the more confused I got. I debated what I knew of your color preference (which was that you don’t have a favorite color but that each color has a personality of its own) and who you are (which is a beautiful juxtaposition of many things) and I stood there for a long time waiting for a pattern to tell me to buy it.
And Paisley Meets Plaid is the pattern that I left the store with. It was the most unique pattern of Vera Bradley I had ever seen. And you, to me, are unique. The grey plaid in the background was very rustic--yet I thought very pretty. I knew that the bag would travel well and hide dirt--and you travel a lot. And I thought that how the grey plaid was paired with the pink paisley was an odd combination--kind of like your desire to go camping and dig worms and be outdoors and not really care about showering every day mixed with the fact that you are absolutely gorgeous and so well put together. I wouldn't usually put those two characteristics together. But they are you. They are completely you. And they are completely lovely--which is how I viewed the bag. Unique. Sturdy. Practical. Striking. Feminine—but not sickeningly so. An odd cross-roads. Which is how I view our friendship. In so many ways, we are such different people, yet our friendship works. And I'm so glad it exists.
I think that my process of picking out the bag is, itself, a good example of our differences. I was looking for all kinds of deep meaning during the buying process--which I obviously found--when in all actuality I should have just gone with my gut reaction and gotten the bright, fun pattern that reminds me of you. I think all things at all times and am accidentally sometimes overly serious. You try to stay present at all times and enjoy joking and taking things lightly.
Anyway...
I was going through some bags of stuff the other day and found this tiny little poem that I penned to give you with the bag. I wrote it as a picture of how I perceive our friendship and I didn't use a lot of words because I thought that simplicity was best. Since I ended up going back to the store and exchanging Paisley Meets Plaid for Indigo Pop, I didn't give you the poem. But I'm giving it to you now…with this confession...and a smile of gratefulness that you ended up with a pattern that you actually like and that you didn't have to pretend to be happy when I gave it to you.
"There's Beauty In The Stitching"
Paisley meets plaid,
Differences unite,
Opposites come together,
Form the fabric of life.
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